Media laws under fire at parly hearings

Paul Osborne, AAP Senior Political Writer

Australian media bosses have united against the federal government's media law changes, while television networks are split over the possible removal of broadcast audience rules.

Media executives appeared before two parliamentary inquiries in Canberra on Monday, ahead of a vote on the media law changes in the lower house on Tuesday night followed by a further vote in the Senate later in the week.

While the coalition opposes the package of six bills, Labor is in talks with the Australian Greens and independent MPs to get it through the lower house.

The government wants to introduce a public interest media advocate (PIMA), who would ensure press councils uphold proper standards and weigh big media mergers and acquisitions against industry diversity issues.

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And if media groups aren't involved in press councils, journalists won't be exempt from privacy laws.

News Limited boss Kim Williams told the Senate inquiry the privacy law exemptions are essential to journalists doing their job.

"The only reasonable conclusion is a single person - the government-appointed PIMA - can remove at a whim the most basic rights on which journalists depend to do their jobs," he said.

Mr Williams also said there was no need for a new body to determine media diversity because the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and Foreign Investment Review Board all had sufficient powers.

Fairfax Media chief Greg Hywood said the proposed changes were a "nuclear option" and there was no need to rush the bills through this week.

A separate joint house committee, which met earlier on Monday to examine the possible abolition of the "75 per cent reach" rule, heard conflicting evidence from television bosses.

Network Ten chief Hamish McLennan said abolishing the rule - which limits TV networks to cover 75 per cent of the population - would result in less diversity of media and would result in fewer regional journalists and bureaus.

"There will be massive implications on regional Australia and I think we need to be concerned by it," he said.

Nine Network chief David Gyngell, whose company would be able to buy the Southern Cross network if the rule was axed, said the rule had outlived its purpose because of the internet.

"I wouldn't allow the 75 per cent rule to be removed without the certainty of the high-quality news content viewers currently receive," he told the committee, adding that regional journalists would keep their jobs.

The Senate committee is due to hand down an interim report on Wednesday, while the joint select committee will report on the reach rule on Tuesday. If it decides the rule can be scrapped, the change will be included in the government's legislation.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy wants the package to be passed by both houses of parliament by Thursday - the last sitting day before the May 14 budget.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the government was awaiting the interim reports from the two committees and was open to "sensible suggestions" for changes.

"What we've said is we don't want the intent of our reforms to be distorted in any way," she told reporters.

The government needs five extra votes to get its bills through the lower house.

Independent MPs Peter Slipper and Andrew Wilkie told AAP on Monday they were still "undecided".

Other crossbenchers, Rob Oakeshott and Craig Thomson, are expected to oppose the bills, but Mr Thomson's vote will be negated by the opposition.

Tony Windsor is concerned about the tight deadline and Bob Katter has a raft of amendments.